By Amos Aar
THE management of the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society (SMCS) Limited says its revenue for the year 2022 dropped drastically as a result of non-payment of workers’ salaries by the state government.
SMCS president, Mr Danladi Ochefu, disclosed this Thursday at the 21st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Cooperative held in Makurdi, the Benue State Capital.
According to Ochefu, members of the SMCS made savings for only nine months instead of 12 months as they were owed salaries for 5 months.
He revealed that when the irregular payment of salaries made it difficult for members to feed their families, SMCS provided palliative measures to cushion their hardship by procuring and distributing 3,500 bags of fertilizers at a highly subsidised rate during the last farming season as well as procurement and distribution of 2,500 bags of 25kg of rice to members during the 2022 Easter and Christmas festivities.
Ochefu announced 41,247,407 as dividends/interest for the year 2022 to be shared by members which is a 3,983,899 marginal improvement from the 2021 dividends of 37,263,508 against what they targeted at the beginning of 2022.
Earlier, before the commencement of the AGM, the Executive Chairman of SUBEB, Comrade Joseph Utse, commissioned a store and a van built and donated by the SMCS limited at the Board’s headquarters in Makurdi.
Comrade Utse charged the staff to continue to strengthen their cooperative society for them to enjoy more dividends and to execute greater projects.
In a keynote address during the AGM by the SUBEB Executive Chairman, represented by Permanent Member 1 at the Board, Hon. Mike Kusah, expressed joy that SUBEB staff in the 23 LGEAs of Benue State were able to execute meaningful projects under his watch despite economic downturn and sued for sustenance of the efforts.
He expressed optimism that apart from enabling members to access loans, the cooperative society will better the lives of the staff during their service years and prepare a stable ground for their retirement.
